Dealer fails in prison appeal

A Sheffield drug dealer jailed for his role in a cocaine supply ring has failed in an appeal against his sentence.

Jason Wake, of Olivers Mount, Darnall, was jailed for 15-and-a-half years at Sheffield Crown Court last July, after being convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine.

But the 42-year-old appealed against his sentence, claiming it was too long and the judge had over-stressed his role in the scheme.

However, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, sitting at London’s Appeal Court, said Wake – who has previous convictions for offences of ‘violence and dishonesty’ – played a ‘leading role in directing and organising the trade on a commercial scale’.

He said Wake was one rung below the ‘ringmaster’ of the conspiracy to channel drugs between Derby, Sheffield, and Middlesbrough.

Some of the consignments seized by police were of the ‘highest purity’, suggesting the drugs were close to the source of importation.

Judge Hilliard said: “We see no error in his assessment of Wake’s overall culpability. The sentence cannot be said to be excessive.”